David Schwimmer (with series director Sigal Avin, right) says he wanted the video series to name the unacceptable behavior so many women experience in the workplace. (Photo: Francois Durand/Getty Images)

David Schwimmer's new gig: Shining a light on sexual harassment

'Friends' actor teams up with director Sigal Avin to produce #ThatsHarassment, a series of short films to add star power to the #metoo movement.

A new PSA series is hitting the airwaves promoting the #MeToo movement. And it comes courtesy of actor David Schwimmer – best known as Ross from the sitcom "Friends" – and Israeli-American writer and director Sigal Avin.

This six-part video series is based on real, documented stories from women who have been harassed by men in positions of authority. It's all part of a series of short films aimed to highlight exactly what sexual harassment looks like.

The videos were officially released today on multiple platforms, including Hulu, Showtime and Amazon. They're also going to be shown in New York City taxis starting Monday. And it's all being promoted under a shiny new hashtag: #ThatsHarassment.

David Schwimmer co-stars with Zazie Beetz in a video about sexual harassment in the workplace. (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

It's only natural that Schwimmer himself has become the visible face behind the series, as he stars in one of the films. He's also been a longtime proponent of anti-harassment and anti-assault causes. But it was actually Avin, who was born in Florida and moved to Israel as a young child, who brought the idea forward and asked Schwimmer to work with her.

For Avin, it was about “taking what some consider a gray area and making it clear: That’s harassment,” she told The New York Times. She launched a similar project to Facebook users in Israel in 2016 to resounding success.

Sigal Avin is known in Israel for her writing and directing work, including a comedy she created about what happens to a couple after having their first child. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Avin, who now splits her time between Tel Aviv and New York, and Schwimmer both appeared on Megyn Kelly's show on NBC this week to talk about the series, which you can view in the video below:

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Jaime Bender
is a staff writer, copy editor and web producer at From the Grapevine who also manages Israeli Kitchen, From The Grapevine’s food channel.